Summary translation

Agriculture has shown throughout the ages, historic responsibility in the transformation of natural spaces, brought about by the increasing need for food production. The intense discussion of the environmental problems of today has required consideration of the relationship between man and nature. This paper presents search result Masters in Banana Valley, in the municipality of Salinas, Minas Gerais, Program of Graduate Studies, State University of Santa Cruz, brings elements of the social representation of small farmers, environmental and agricultural practices, through analysis of his speech represented in the community and its family-based agricultural practices. It was to the theory of social representations with the field research through semi-structured interviews and direct observation. Data analysis occurred through the Collective Subject Discourse. There were many environmental problems as deforestation, pesticide use, adulteration of riparian vegetation, erosion, contamination of river. It can be inferred that although small farmers in Banana Valley town of Salinas, has a naturalistic perception of the environment, there is evidence of sustainable agriculture practices.